Geographically, Italy lies in the temperate zone. Because of the considerable length of the peninsula, there is a variation between the climate of the north, attached to the European continent, and that of the south, surrounded by the Mediterranean. The Alps are a partial barrier against westerly and northerly winds, while both the Apennines and the great plain of northern Italy produce special climatic variations. Sardinia is subject to Atlantic winds and Sicily to African winds. In general, four meteorological situations dominate the Italian climate: the Mediterranean winter cyclone, with a corresponding summer anticyclone; the Alpine summer cyclone, with a consequent winter anticyclone; the Atlantic autumnal cyclone; and the eastern Siberian autumnal anticyclone. The meeting of the two last-mentioned air masses brings heavy and sometimes disastrous rains in the autumn.

Italy can be divided into seven main climatic zones. The most northerly, the Alpine zone, has a continental mountain climate, with temperatures lower and rainfall higher in the east than in the west. At Bardonecchia, in the west, the average temperature is 45.3 °F (7.4 °C), and the average annual rainfall is 26 inches (660 mm); at Cortina d’Ampezzo, in the east, the figures are 43.9 °F (6.6 °C) and 41.5 inches (1,055 mm). In the Valle d’Aosta, in the west, the permanent snow line is at 10,200 feet (3,110 metres), but in the Julian Alps it is as low as 8,350 feet (2,545 metres). In autumn and in late winter the hot, dry wind that is known as the foehn blows from Switzerland or Austria, and in the east the cold, dry bora blows with gusts up to 125 miles (200 km) per hour. Rain falls in the summer in the higher and more remote areas and in the spring and autumn at the periphery. Snow falls only in the winter; the snowfall varies from about 10 to 33 feet (3 to 10 metres) in different years and in relation to altitude or proximity to the sea. More snow falls in the foothills than in the mountains and more in the Eastern than in the Western Alps. Around the lakes the climate is milder, the average temperature in January at Milan being 34 °F (1 °C), while at Salò, on Lake Garda, it is 39 °F (4 °C).

The Po valley has hot summers but severe winters, worse in the interior than toward the eastern coast. At Turin the average winter temperature is 32.5 °F (0.3 °C) and the summer average 74 °F (23 °C). Rain falls mainly in the spring and autumn and increases with elevation. There is scant snow, and that falls only on the high plain. The temperatures along the Adriatic coast rise steadily from north to south, partly because of the descending latitude and partly because the prevailing winds are easterly in the north but southerly in the south. The average annual mean temperature rises from 56.5 °F (13.6 °C) at Venice to 61 °F (16 °C) at Ancona and 63 °F (17 °C) at Bari. There is scant rain: Ancona has an average of 25.5 inches (650 mm) and Bari 23.6 inches (600 mm). Although Venice averages just 29.5 inches (750 mm) of rain annually, even relatively minor increases in the depth of the Venitian lagoon can subject the city to catastrophic flooding.

In the Apennines the winters vary in severity according to the altitude. Except at specific locations, there are but moderate amounts of both rain and snow; in the cyclonic conditions of midwinter there may be sudden snowfalls in the south. The annual mean temperatures are 53.8 °F (12.1 °C) at Urbino, in the east, and 54.5 °F (12.5 °C) at Potenza, in Basilicata; the annual rainfall is, respectively, 35 inches (890 mm) and 39.6 inches (1,000 mm). Along the Tyrrhenian coast and the Ligurian rivieras in the north, both temperature and rainfall are influenced by full exposure to the noonday sun, by the nearness of the sea, with its prevailing southwesterly winds, and by the Apennine range, which protects the area from the cold north winds. The eastern riviera has more rain than the western: rainfall at La Spezia, on the eastern riviera, is 45.2 inches (1,150 mm), while at San Remo, on the western riviera, it is 26.7 inches (680 mm). Farther south, where the coastal areas extend a great distance inland and are flatter, the mean temperature and annual rainfall are 58.6 °F (14.8 °C) and 30.3 inches (770 mm) at Florence and 61.9 °F (16.6 °C) and 31.4 inches (800 mm) at Naples. As a rule, the Tyrrhenian coast is warmer and wetter than the Adriatic coast. Both Calabria and Sicily are mountainous regions that are surrounded by the Mediterranean, and they therefore have higher temperatures than the high regions of the Italian mainland farther north. Winter rains are scarce in the interior and heavier in the west and north of Sicily. At Reggio di Calabria the annual mean temperature is 64.7 °F (18.2 °C) and rainfall is 23.5 inches (595 mm); at Palermo, in Sicily, they are 64.4 °F (18 °C) and 38.2 inches (970 mm). The sirocco, a hot, very humid, and oppressive wind, blows frequently from Africa and the Middle East. In Sardinia conditions are more turbulent on the western side, and the island suffers from the cold mistral blowing from the northwest and also from the sirocco blowing from the southwest. At Sassari, in the northwest, the annual mean temperature is 62.6 °F (17 °C) and the rainfall 22.8 inches (580 mm), while at Orosei, on the east coast, the temperature is 63.5 °F (17.5 °C) and the rainfall 21.2 inches (540 mm).